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       KARACHI: Residents’ protest against prolonged power outage at a 10-storey residential building in Punjab Colony on Saturday piled miseries on commuters as traffic remained clogged for hours on Defence Road and surrounding areas.

       The residents of the affected building staged a sit-in blocking the road leading to Defence Mor from Punjab Chowrangi early in the morning. The sit-in caused severe traffic jams with long queues of goods trailers and tankers heading to and from the Karachi Port.

       Thousands of vehicles moved bumper to bumper at a snail’s pace in major parts of the DHA as traffic was choked at Boat Basin, Gizri, Hino Chowrangi and Qayyumabad to KPT Flyover on the Korangi Road.

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       Police redirected vehicles from the Gizri Underpass and diverted Korangi-bound traffic toward Khayaban-i-Jami.

       Vehicles moved at a snail’s pace in DHA as traffic remained choked at Boat Basin, Gizri and nearby areas

       The protesters said that building’s 80 flats had been without electricity since 11 am on Friday, while the K-Electric failed to respond to multiple complaints.

       Besides, the affected building occupants, residents of Punjab Colony and P&T Colony also took to streets after the K-Electric’s operation targeted illegal connections in the two localities.

       They said that the power to the building was suspended after a confrontation broke out in P&T Colony during the KE action against illegal connections.

       Responding to a protest held in Punjab Colony over alleged power outages in P&T Colony, K-Electric spokesperson clarified that the protest was led by “miscreants” attempting to “forcibly restore illegal connections”.

       He said that the KE teams were leading efforts to foil the coordinated power theft attempt being carried out under the guise of a cable network.

       “During the anti-theft drive in P&T Colony, KE teams faced resistance and were attacked by individuals allegedly involved in power theft,” he added.

       The spokesman said that no claims had been made for the confiscated materials that were being used to facilitate illegal electricity supply through the cable network.

       According to the KE spokesperson, supply to the remaining pockets in P&T Colony was restored following assurances of cooperation from local community leaders and commitment from law enforcement for action against electricity thieves.

       Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2025